1811 Comics — Local services in Town of Amherst

My son is a huge comic book collector and has been here a few times with my wife. They have found all sorts of great additions to his collection, and enjoy browsing the store.

The owner seems to have met literally anyone who is anyone, and I really enjoyed checking out the rarities, photographs, autographs, and memorabilia that he has amassed. He also has some old/retro arcade games that still work (I played Mario).

He has a bunch of comics, old toys, funko's (including autographed ones) and other pop-culture items.

That said, I recently went to check this store out for the first time with my wife and we felt like I was being treated like a potential shoplifter/criminal.

When we arrived, nobody was upstairs, which my wife assured me was normal, based on the two prior visits she had made. We were the only two people up there.

There are signs that say "smile, you are on camera" to deter would be thieves, and obviously I'm not the type to pull a five finger discount.

A few minutes after arriving, I was simply looking around and taking in the collection. I was looking at all the various Funko's they offered in the event I saw one I spotted, while browsing his photographs.

Shortly thereafter, one of the women staff from downstairs came up and seemingly started to organize some comics.

To her credit, she did ask if there was anything she could help us find, and my wife said "our son has a massive list of comics he is always trying to find so whenever we go to a comic book store I try to check a few off the list".

The woman asked "is this your first time here?" To which I replied "It's my first, but my wife has been here a couple of times before". The conversation ended there.

This seemed like normal retail chit-chat and I thought nothing of it.

But then, she stood there for 5-8 minutes, in one spot, and just was watching us closely. Having worked retail for over a decade, I couldn't help but feel as if she was eyeing us up to prevent us from shoplifting - even though I hadn't so much as even "touched" anything and my wife was just going through the bins of comics.

Only after we went downstairs did she follow-us.

We did stay for ice-cream afterwards downstairs, but I was left feeling 'icky' and unwelcome.

A note to the owner: If you want people to feel welcome, or to prevent shoplifting, maybe have one of your staff stationed up there full time. Also, if you're going to have someone just stand there and watch, at least don't make it so obvious and unwelcoming.

I would have given 4 stars, but the feeling of being unwelcome did not help

Accessibility notice for those who need it: While the lower floor (ice cream) has a ramp, there is no way to access the comic book store if you have mobility issues as there are...

Definitely my favorite comic shop I've ever visited. I'm not from the area so after searching a few spots close to the hotel I was staying at, I had the pleasure of walking into this weird little candy shop. I thought the GPS made a mistake until I saw a sign saying comics upstairs. Upstairs was a comic book NIRVANA. Tons of books, funkos and various Collectibles. The owner was awesome. He was funny, knowledgeable and it turned out, from my hometown. Small world. I would highly recommend this spot. I can't wait to drop my son off at Daemon College this fall and go back for some more books. Maybe this time, have a large vanilla malted shake while I'm...

Popped in to Sweet Jenny’s to grab a chocolate Grogu for my son for Easter and of course went to 1811 to browse. The owner helped me find my son a present which is a Punk Rock Gizmo which I had no idea even existed and I grabbed myself some comics as usual. It’s always a 10/10 experience there. 1811 is the kind of place that really keeps the love of pop culture alive. From cartoons and comics to wrestling, If it wasn’t for shops like this, the world of collecting would die out. Keep on making the world a better place and I appreciate what you do for...